Landry: Matt Black Ready As Argos Man In The Middle

DON LANDRY – Argonauts.ca Columnist

TORONTO – Matt Black is ready for his close up.

The special teams ace is about to get what every football player worth his salt really, really wants – to be a starter. On Friday night, he hits the field in the Argos’ home opener as the team’s starting free safety.

Two interceptions in the first pre-season game of 2013 suggest he’s set for a step up, but it’s more than that. Have a talk with Black and you realize his football demands and philosophies dovetail nicely with those of defensive coordinator Chris Jones. That makes him a comfortable fit for the Toronto defence, and it for him as well.

The journey to this moment has been an ongoing apprenticeship for Black, one that began when he first suited up as a raw rookie back in 2009. His emergence as the new man at rover – after the retirement of Jordan Younger – has the native of Toronto feeling jacked up, as well as rewarded.

“I’m really excited about it,” the fifth year Argonaut said as he relaxed in the bleachers after practice this week. “I’m looking forward to it but at the same time I know I’ve got to keep a level head, stay cool and do my part to help this defence win.”

Doing his part will mean a much larger role than the one he’s filled previously, as a back-up to Younger and the other starting defensive backs, as well as being a mainstay on kick coverage units. If the going seemed slow at times, in this apprenticeship, Black learned to handle it.

“There was a lot of times in my career that I was frustrated that I didn’t get opportunities, felt like I was getting short-changed,” he said matter-of-factly. “But I always try to never let the circumstances that I can’t control affect me. Just try to give maximum effort at all times.”

That effort helped the graduate of Northern Secondary, in Toronto, build his reputation on special teams. Black’s tackle totals continued to rise, year after year. 5 special teams tackles in 2009. 13 in 2010. 15 in 2011 and then 20 last season.

All the while, he’d spell the starters in the secondary when needed, biding is time and hoping to eventually get the nod as one of them. Now he has, although the position he plays is somewhat surprising.

Pleasantly.

“I was kind of shocked when they moved me to free safety on the first day of training camp last year,” Black explains. But, I embraced it and here I am today, starting,” he said with a slight crease of a smile.

A gifted athlete, Black took to many sports as a child. He played baseball. Rugby. Hockey, too. “I was decent,” he says in response to the question of how good he was at the fastest game on ice. “Played defence. Played select.” He took part in track and field as well, but when he got his first taste of football, there seemed little doubt as to what path he’d take.

“I think football chose me, to be honest with you,” he said. “My first game I ever played was in grade nine. I just fell in love with it. It was a natural fit. I loved it. The violence. The atmosphere we had at Northern was awesome and it was a bug that stuck with me.”

Now we see why Argos special teams coach Mike O’Shea likes the 28 year old so much. O’Shea is a big proponent of troops who relish violent collisions and keep their feet moving through the tackle. It’s a trait that, no doubt, endears Black to Jones as well.

“The first thing he says is that if you bust a coverage, bust it at a hundred miles an hour,” Black said, taking note of the DC’s mantra.

Jones, on some levels, keeps it simple. That simplicity is not lost on Black when he repeats another of the coach’s favourite sayings: “There’s one football. Go find the guy that’s got it and hit him.”

Free safeties get to do a fair bit of search and destroy, so maybe that line of thinking is especially apt for the man in the middle. Often times, Black will need to make quick decisions on where he’s needed most as a play unfolds.

“You get used to it. It’s fun. There’s a lot of opportunities to make plays,” Black explains. “It’s exciting.”

So exciting that he’d rather concentrate solely on this position and cede his old special teams responsibilities to someone else? Nope. Although he realizes there will be a period of adjusting to the rigours of combining full time defence with tracking and tackling kick returners, Black wants a taste of it all. “I talked to Osh (O’Shea) and said ‘you know, I’m here to do whatever you need me to do.”

If you ask Argos general manager Jim Barker if Black’s impressive pre-season play is a pleasant surprise, he’ll counter that it’s not a surprise at all. Just another example of what the right kind of recruiting and grooming can do. Black’s not surprised either, even with the admission that he’d been a corner and just a corner his whole football life, save for one season in grade nine when he played wide receiver. Until he was shifted into that back-up role last season and started the learning process.

“I’m feeling really comfortable back there,” Black said, indicating that he’s attained a certain ease with the position. “I have a good grasp of the defence. I have a good grasp of the guys around me. I feel like I’ve been playing there my whole life, now. It’s not like an adjustment phase anymore for me.”

That’s good for the Argos, because as free safety, Black will be somewhat responsible for observing fellow defenders and ensuring all is right as the opposition quarterback gets ready to take a snap. Bit of a traffic cop, he’ll be.

“When it comes down to it, if the strength call doesn’t come in, it’s on my shoulders. If the formation call doesn’t come in, it’s on my shoulders.  If the ‘check’ doesn’t come, it’s on my shoulders. The buck stops with me, but we’ve got a lot of leaders on defence.”

“I think that leads to the strength of our defence. When you have everyone chipping in and you’re not just relying on one single guy, it makes for a better atmosphere and it’s a great defensive plan.”

28 years old and the long road to being a starter has brought Matt Black front and centre with the Argos defence. Well, BACK and centre, I suppose. His moment has arrived and he seems ready to embrace it.

“I’m having a great time out there with these guys. Hopefully I can be a catalyst and make the guys around me better. I’m really excited about our team.”

Having been a decent defenceman as a young man, no doubt Black was excited to see the wild finish to the Stanley Cup Final Monday night.

“I fell asleep,” he said, laughing. “I fell asleep because I was beat after practice. But I did get up first thing in the morning and check. I heard it was a pretty phenomenal finish there.”

Although he hasn’t played hockey in six years, he’s ready to lace up.

“I’ve still got my equipment. If the guys invite me out for some shinny I think I can play the part,” he said.